Wadena Line 3 Pipeline Public Meeting ~ Come and Testify!

The Minnesota Department of Commerce is hosting 22 public meetings from June 6-22 on the potential environmental and cultural impacts of Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline that the company wants to build through the Mississippi headwaters. COME TO A PUBLIC MEETING NEAR YOU -- PUBLIC TESTIMONY WILL BE TAKEN -- VERY IMPORTANT TO SHOW UP!

There will be one public meeting in each Minnesota county where the pipeline is designed to cross.

Come out to give your thoughts through public testimony, show strength in numbers (even if you don’t testify, your presence means a lot!), and make sure that all the impacts of this project are properly considered.

The upcoming public meetings are specifically in regard to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a review document that assesses the possible impacts posed by the pipeline project. Your testimony made during the public meeting should be in regard to this particular document, and we’ll post talking points and a document summary soon. The full DEIS and supplements are over 5,000 pages, which you can download here: https://mn.gov/commerce/energyfacilities/resource.html?Id=34695

In case you are relatively new to this risky plan, here is some background knowledge. In 2014, the Canadian company Enbridge Energy announced plans to construct a “replacement” pipeline in place of the old and failing Line 3 Pipeline. Their proposal is not a true replacement, however, because they are proposing to leave the old Line 3 in the ground and build the new Line 3 with specs that significantly increase the tar sands flow capacity of the old Line 3. Furthermore, the route for the new pipeline is designed to tear through 160 miles of new corridor, under and alongside some of Minnesota’s cleanest and best wild rice lakes.

Enbridge Energy, the company responsible for the largest-ever inland oil spill in the continental United States, has a long history of violations, fines, deception, and deferred maintenance. This company is not a good partner for Minnesota. These public meetings serve as a crucial opportunity for you to voice your perspective and show that this project is too big of a risk for MN communities.

Come out and defend clean water and healthy ecosystems, treaty rights, and a livable climate for all!